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We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.

This chapter pinpoints a chronological and thematic literature review on the concept of Creative Tourism. Even if the concept emerged 21 years ago, its definition keeps being discussed, and different approaches are available. Born in the late 1990s, it developed rapidly due to a very open, flexible and local context design, enabling the development of personal capacity, authentic experiences and involving local culture and communities. This new approach to tourism envisages bringing together local people, their habits and practices in real and everyday contexts to the heart of the tourism experience provided to visitors. Therefore, it looks to be a promising path towards sustainability. Keeping this in mind, one can wonder if Creative Tourism can be a lever for territories' economic, social, cultural and environmental sustainability. In particular, can Creative Tourism's growing importance in Southern Europe be considered a major contribution to the sustainability of those territories? The literature review concludes that most of the studies on Creative Tourism take positive impacts on territories as a kind of ‘belief’. Such an effect is not granted as a beneficial impact on a communities' well-being; it does not result just from the type of resources explored or from the participation of members of the community on the products/services supplied.

This chapter examines the professional identities of Brazilian journalists. It does so through an analysis of the growing professional autonomy of journalism from 1950 to 1990 through the life stories of 10 intellectual-journalists, individuals whose journalistic activities have crossed over into other intellectual fields.

This study applies a symbolic interactionist framework to understand how these actors managed their reputations and careers within the intellectual world. The narratives were taken from qualitative semi-structured interviews, and supported by additional research such as interviews, biographies, and articles which have been published about their lives.

The life stories were compared to the extensive structural changes affecting the world of journalism and the world of intellectuals in Brazil. This comparison revealed gaps between these two spheres of practice, within which the ambivalent form of journalists’ identities have been constructed.

This chapter offers two contributions to the study of Brazilian journalists. From a theoretical and methodological viewpoint, it advances beyond other studies that focus more on the prevailing representations of journalists’ professional identities and their role in society. From an empirical standpoint, it describes the complex negotiations between the worlds of journalism, culture and politics. This chapter also reexamines the current dominant explanation for the changes in Brazilian journalism. It shows that building careers and new levels of interpersonal cooperation for intellectuals and journalists has been a slow process. Ultimately, this development has left some behind, especially those actors stretched between multiple professional identities such as those who self-identify as intellectual-journalists.

Purpose of article – Board of Directors are characterized as essential elements in the structure of corporate governance. Hence, this study aimed at identifying the governance practices of Latin-American companies in relation to the fifth principle – “Responsibilities of the Board” – recommended by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for this region (Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and Chile).

Design/methodology/approach – To that end, the legislation and corporate practices of companies in the four countries were studied so as to identify legal provisions on the subject and additional procedures adopted by such companies comparatively to OECD recommendations.

Findings – The results showed that Mexico was the country with the highest level of full compliance with OECD recommendations, followed by Argentina, Brazil, and lastly by Chile. They also showed that a lot of improvement still needs to be made so as to ensure the responsibilities of the board in terms of integrity, efficacy remuneration dissemination, and technical competence.

Research limitations/implications – This study was restricted to only four countries in Latin America: Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and Chile. This procedure is justifiable by the fact that OECD designed its recommendations based on these four countries. It is also important to point out that this study has focused only on Principle V of OECD (2004), concerning the Responsibilities of the Board of Directors.

Originality/Value of article – This study is justified by the need to understand and disseminate Latin-American practices in face of the region-specific governance recommendations designed by OECD, notably on the behavior of the Board of Directors. This region has developing countries with an active stock market. The region presents great potential for economic development, hence the need for these types of studies.

The objective of this chapter is to outline an integrating picture of the situation, representativeness, contradictions, and challenges that the treatment of diversity assumes in Brazilian society and in its organizations. The aim is to reply to the research question: “How are public policies and organizational practices constructing ways of inserting and valuing the diversity of Brazilians?” We provide a brief background of the changes in the global and Brazilian contexts over the last few decades and analyze the demographic data presented in the 2010 Census and in studies on diversity that were published in the main periodicals in the Administration area in Brazil, between 2000 and 2014 with regard to the segments most widely studied in the academic literature: Afro-descendants, homosexuals, the elderly, Indians, women, and people with a disability. The conclusion reached is that, in a short period of time, Brazil has made great strides in constructing the mechanisms and legal devices for recognizing the rights of its diverse population and that private companies are in the initial stages of introducing diversity programs.

This chapter examines the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem and the knowledge transfer process involved, in the tourist municipality of Lagos, Portugal. Participatory action research is used to identify issues, antagonistic forces, and the system of governance which emerged in the creation of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The different roles of both public and private actors were identified. Despite a deficit of entrepreneurial culture and social capital, the main results show that participatory action research encouraged knowledge transfer among political actors, entrepreneurs, and academics, leading to the implementation of the basic conditions for an entrepreneurial ecosystem dynamic.